Why isn't #include working on .asp page in IIS7.5?

Question

I saw a similar question to this, but mine is slightly different:

I'm get intermittent results with #include files working on an IIS 7.5 server (R2008 V2). My includes are only working if they are in the same folder as the current .asp page, or in a subfolder of the current page. This is inconvenient, as I'd like to keep them all in a /lib subfolder, off of the main page.

My configuration: I have a folder named DCN, sitting right below the wwwroot folder. There are several files in a /lib folder within the DCN folder, so the absolute path is c:\inetpub\wwwroot\dcn\lib\my_include_file.asp. If I open an ASP page in the DCN folder, I can pull include files from the /lib subfolder. However, if I open an ASP page from the DCN/trouble folder (such as "DCN\Trouble\Search.asp"), and the search.asp page has a line that says:

<!--#include file="../lib/my_include_file.asp"-->

the include fails, and I get a 500 error.

I've also tried:

<!--#include file="/lib/my_include_file.asp"--> 

with the same results. Same with:

<!--#include file="/DCN/lib/my_include_file.asp"-->

I changed the slashes to backslashes, with the same results. I even went so far as to try:

 <!--#include file="c:\inetpub\wwwroot\dcn\lib\my_include_file.asp"-->

(out of sheer desparation), but am still getting the same results.

If I create a subfolder in the dcn\trouble folder, I can include files from it, but obviously, this is not ideal.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can't help but think this is something trivial. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Yots is correct, it sounds like parent paths are turned off. If you can't get these turned on the use virtual paths instead:

Based on your question where you state that the include files are in /DCN/lib then do the following:

<!-- #include virtual="/DCN/lib/my_include_file.asp -->

When using virtual paths you must specify the full virtual path to the file i.e. from the root of the site. This isn't ideal if you're building your application in a subfolder on your development machine where you're using XP and then deploying into the root of a production machine. That said IIS7 on Vista or Windows 7 permits the creation of multiple sites now **.

When using a path type of File="...", filename must be on a relative path to the folder containing the #include. For example:

The directive <!-- #include file="my_include.asp" --> will include my_include.asp from the same folder.

The directive <!-- #include file="lib/my_include.asp" --> will include my_include.asp from the folder lib below the current folder where the script is running.

The directive <!-- #include file="../my_include.asp" --> will include my_include.asp from the folder lib above the current folder (the parent folder) where the script is running.

The directive <!-- #include file="../lib/my_include.asp" --> will include my_include.asp from the folder lib that is a child of the parent folder (or the current folder's sibling).

The last two examples won't work if parent paths are not enabled.

** I am aware there are hacks to enable multiple IIS sites in XP's IIS5.1.

Answer 2

I think your problem is that parent paths are disabled by default in IIS.

You have two options:

1. Using Virtual Paths
2. Enabling ASP Parent Paths on IIS

For details read this article from the IIS Website
http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/566/classic-asp-parent-paths-are-disabled-by-default/